1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanner having a film image input unit for reading images from developed film stowed in a cartridge and a film holding unit capable of being detachably attached to the film image input unit and of holding the cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
What has been proposed in the past as a scanner for inputting images on a plurality of kinds of films such as film stowed in a film cartridge, a strip film, and a piece film includes a file player disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-145838.
The film player includes a mechanism into which both film stowed in a cartridge and a piece film can be inserted and which consists of gears used to transport the film stowed in the cartridge to a given read position, and a mechanism into which the piece film can be inserted through a port and which consists of feed rollers used to transport the film to the given read position. The film transported to the given read position is illuminated using an illumination light source, and the images on the film are read by a CCD of an imaging device.
Conceivable in contrast with the film player is a scanner comprising an image input unit and a film holding unit capable of being detached freely from the image input unit and usable for various kinds of films. In this case, a scanner adaptable for a plurality of kinds of films can be provided with a relatively simple structure without the necessity of increasing the size of the scanner and making the structure of the scanner complex.
However, as mentioned above, in a scanner structured so that an input holding unit is simply detachable from an image input unit, although film is pulled out of a film cartridge within the film holding unit during operation of the scanner, the film holding unit may be detached from the main unit of the scanner. In this case, there is the fear of causing dust to adhere to the film or flawing the film. Thus, the scanner has a drawback that it is not user-friendly.